i was in the market for a new clutch, one of the ones i ran across was a F1 stage 1 clutch kit, chosen because the ratings on it are around what i am looking for in HP and TQ for short time goals and the price is cheap at 199.99. the only mod so far is a cold air intake. as soon as i get the clutch i will be putting on all parts i already have for tranny/motor (no power adders, just misc bushings, shifter linkage, ect...) my question is if anyone on NASIOC has experience with these clutches, good or bad. i want to get past customers input on how well they are build and if i should buy one. otherwise i will just go exedy oem replacement until i build enough power for a higher performance clutch. thanks for any input!
link to clutch site.
http://gripforce.com/store/index.php...products_id=62
status:
out of box:
10 - looks good
after install:
8 - some shudder, little worried, assume needs break in
500 miles:
9 - shudders getting better, seems a little bit grippier
2 years later: 10 - operates fine, lasted a couple years, still working great. i kept my old clutch and almost sold it 10 times but backed out because i thought maybe this clutch would fail me eventually. glad to say, its perfectly fine, and now that i know my stock clutch is still good, i am just waiting for the day when i need to replace my clutch, then the stocker goes right back in. i initially thought my tranny issues were due to bad clutch bearing so i ordered clutch before tearing it apart, even though my stocker was a 9 out of 10 i still replaced it just for the experiment.
4/17/2012 - well i am going on 3 years, still good on clutch. i recently just sold my stock clutch i took off (it still had 90% life in it, dealer put it in before i bought car, but i thought throw out bearing was bad, or clutch was bad until i found issue in tranny. i had new clutch so i just put it in anyway and kept old one as backup.) i dont know how many miles exactly i have on it, but for 3 years without issues, im pretty happy. i will prob drop out the tranny, or pull the motor for other stuff before it goes bad. for the price i may just replace again with same brand when i get to the point of a motor or tranny pull
i give this clutch 3 thumbs up so far
notes:
-inspect all critical surfaces for defects. my clutch came with a little overspray of paint on the machined surface of the pressure plate. i was told that could lead to glazing or uneven wear (worse than normal) and i would have bad things to say of these clutches had that happened. i used brake cleaner to get paint off of that surface.
-clutch pedal seems easier to press in than when i had stock clutch in, could be good or bad???? still runs pretty good
-personally i heard not so great things of the stage 2 and up clutch, i have stage 1 which pretty much appears to be a stock exedy friction disc (printed on the disc) and i think F1 pressure plate unless thats from another comany also, and it is painted.